The Effects of Self-Esteem on Implicit Stereotypes Katie Fisher and Jenny McGuinness

“When an individual encounters another, he/she routinely categorizes that person in terms of salient features.” (Bertram et al., 2002) Stereotyping

Automatic vs. Controlled Processes Automatic processes are mental processes that occur without conscious effort. Controlled processes are mental processes that we consciously control.

Automatic Processes vs. Personal Beliefs Stereotypes can be learned in childhood and become automatic. In this way, stereotypes can affect us without our conscious involvement. (Devine, 1989)

Implicit Association Test This test assesses implicit attitudes people have by having them quickly categorize stimulus words using two response keys.

Formation of the IAT Each block starts with short instructions for the specific task and requests the participant to respond as fast as possible. (Bertram et.al, 2002) Most IAT tests are made up of 5 blocks: Initial target-concept Attribute discrimination Initial combined task Reversed target-concept Reversed combined task

Initial Target-Concept *Instructions: As quickly as possible hit the left key if the face is African American and the right key if the face is European American African AmericanEuropean American

Attribute Discrimination *Instructions: As quickly as possible hit the left key if the word is “good” and the right key if the word is “bad”

Initial Combined Task (Critical Block 1!!) European American Bad African American Good Face OR Word *Instructions: As quickly as possible hit the left key if the face or word is African American or “good” and the right key if the word or face is European American or “bad”

Reversed Target Concept *Instructions: As quickly as possible hit the left key if the face is European American and the right key if the face is African American

Reversed Combined Task (Critical block 2!!) Face OR Word European American Good African American Bad *Instructions: As quickly as possible hit the left key if the face or word is European American or “good” and the right key if the word or face is African American or “bad”

It is presumed that a larger IAT effect – or larger gap between congruent and non-congruent reaction times - shows that the individual has a stronger association in memory between the specific concept pairings (i.e. European American-good or African American-bad) that make the judgment faster. For example: White individuals typically categorize more quickly when the paired words are “white or good” or “black or bad” than with opposite pairings (McConnell & Leibold, 2000) IAT Effect

Self-Esteem “An affective component of the self, consisting of a person’s positive and negative self-evaluations.” (Brem, Kassin, & Fein, 2002) Personal: Self-esteem based on self perception Collective: Self esteem based on group membership

Self-esteem & Stereotypes Those who base their self-esteem on their own self perception tend to make up for low esteem by picking on others in order to raise self-esteem Those who exhibit collective self- esteem make an attempt to remain positive about social identity, and therefore self-esteem -(De Cremer, 2000)

Current Study This study will look at the effects of an individual’s self-esteem (both personal and collective) on his/her unconscious tendency to stereotype.

Our Hypothesis We believe that those with low self-esteem will have more unconscious stereotypes than those with high self-esteem.

Participants Small Midwestern Liberal Arts College 41 total subjects 19 Male 22 Female Between ages of Freshman: 14 Sophomore: 14 Junior: 5 Senior: 9

Procedure Informed Consent Demographics SES status Age Number of siblings Major & Minor Self-Esteem Scales Personal Self-Esteem (PSE) –  Using Rosenberg Self-Esteem Inventory Example question: “I am able to do things as well as most other people.” Collective Self-Esteem (CSE) –  Example question: “I am a worthy member of the social groups I belong to.”

IAT Procedure IAT Participants given specific instructions in order to take the IAT: e.htm Before running subjects, set up project Placed assigned participant number in as their “guest name.” Received another number/letter code To get our data ran selected our project Debriefing

IAT Effect IAT: F (1,39) = 75.99, p <.01 Gender: F (1,39) =.15, (n.s.) IAT x Gender: F (1,39) =.90, (n.s.)

IAT Scoring IAT Difference Time = NC - C -After obtaining the participants times offline, their congruent time was subtracted from their non-congruent time to obtain their IAT difference times.

Overall Results r = -.119, (n.s.) r =.036, (n.s.) r =.495,p<.01 IAT Dif. PSE CSEPSE Overall, we found no significant correlations with the IAT difference which means our hypothesis was not supported.

Results by Gender - Female r = -.115, (n.s.) r = -.409, p =.059 r =.710, p<.01 IAT Dif. PSE IAT Dif. CSEPSE Females show a trend towards a significant relationship between IAT and CSE

Results by Gender - Male r = -.247, (n.s.) r =.522, p<.05 r =.014, (n.s.) IAT Dif. PSE CSE Although with the men there is a significant correlation between IAT and CSE, it is a positive correlation which indicates the higher self-esteem men have, the more likely they are to implicitly stereotype.

Scatterplot There is one outlier that could be driving the correlation, what would happen if it was taken out? Let’s find out…

We Found Out r = -.094, (n.s.) r =.276, (n.s.) r =.087, (n.s.) IAT CSEPSE The correlation was no longer significant which leads us to believe that the correlation was not real.

Discussion Hypothesis not supported – why? IAT unconscious PSE and CSE are conscious

Discussion Continued CSE and PSE highly correlated for women – but not for men What does this mean? Possible gender difference in collective and personal self-esteem…women tend to base self-esteem more on group membership while men base their self-esteem on a more personal level.

Limitations Small, Liberal Arts College Most males were from a single fraternity Only had one non-Caucasian participant (Pacific Islander)

Possible Future Directions Develop an implicit measure of self- esteem Greenwald et. al (2002) Look at the relationship between personal and collective self-esteem in men and women More diversity in the sample

Questions